THE WEAKEST PLAYER

The first notification appeared at 8:17 a.m.

Nobody believed it was real.

Not at first.

People assumed it was some kind of global prank, an elaborate advertisement or perhaps a technological experiment conducted by one of the world’s wealthiest companies.

Then the sky turned red.

And everything changed.

Elara Voss was halfway through her breakfast when the glass in her apartment window began vibrating.

She paused, spoon halfway to her mouth.

Outside, Lagos was unusually quiet.

That alone was strange.

The usual morning traffic had stopped. The distant noise of buses, impatient drivers and street vendors had disappeared, replaced by an unsettling silence.

Elara walked towards the window.

“What on earth?”

A strange blue light appeared above the buildings.

It expanded slowly, spreading across the sky like a gigantic transparent screen.

Then a voice spoke.

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT]

[WELCOME, INHABITANTS OF EARTH.]

[YOUR WORLD HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR INTEGRATION.]

[THE SURVIVAL SYSTEM WILL ACTIVATE IN 60 SECONDS.]

Elara stared.

She blinked twice.

“Okay. Who is doing this?”

Her phone vibrated.

Then her television switched on by itself.

The same announcement appeared on every screen.

Her phone displayed another message.

[PLEASE REMAIN CALM.]

[YOUR PREVIOUS WAY OF LIFE IS NOW OBSOLETE.]

Elara slowly lowered her spoon.

“That cannot be real.”

A countdown appeared in the sky.

00:00:59.

00:00:58.

00:00:57.

She grabbed her phone and called her best friend.

“Amara, are you seeing this?”

“Elara!” Amara screamed through the phone. “What is happening? Everyone outside is looking at the sky!”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s some kind of—”

A deafening explosion interrupted her.

Elara rushed towards the window.

Something enormous had appeared above the neighbouring street.

It looked like a creature from a nightmare.

Four legs. Black scales. Glowing red eyes.

Its mouth opened, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

People began screaming.

00:00:10.

00:00:09.

Elara stepped backwards.

00:00:08.

00:00:07.

“Amara, get somewhere safe!”

00:00:06.

00:00:05.

00:00:04.

The blue light swallowed the city.

00:00:03.

00:00:02.

00:00:01.

[INTEGRATION COMPLETE.]

Elara woke up on the floor.

Her ears were ringing.

For several seconds, she couldn’t remember what had happened.

Then she noticed the blood on her forehead.

She touched it cautiously.

“Ow.”

Her apartment was still standing, but the windows had shattered. Furniture lay scattered across the floor, and the television had completely disappeared.

She struggled to her feet.

A transparent screen appeared directly in front of her.

[WELCOME, PLAYER.]

[YOUR CHARACTER REGISTRATION IS COMPLETE.]

[NAME: ELARA VOSS]

[RACE: HUMAN]

[LEVEL: 1]

[CLASS: UNASSIGNED]

[HP: 100/100]

[MP: 50/50]

[STRENGTH: 4]

[AGILITY: 6]

[INTELLIGENCE: 9]

[STAMINA: 5]

[ENDURANCE: 4]

[LUCK: 2]

[AVAILABLE SKILL POINTS: 0]

Elara stared at the information.

“What?”

She waved her hand through the screen.

Nothing happened.

The display remained.

A second notification appeared.

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BEEN REGISTERED AS A PLAYER.]

[INITIAL CLASS SELECTION WILL BEGIN AFTER YOUR FIRST SURVIVAL TRIAL.]

[WARNING: DEATH WITHIN THE SYSTEM IS PERMANENT.]

Her stomach dropped.

Permanent?

She read the message again.

Then again.

A loud crash came from downstairs.

Someone screamed.

Elara rushed to the door and pulled it open.

The corridor was filled with smoke.

A man stumbled out of the apartment opposite hers, holding his bleeding arm.

“Help me!”

Elara hurried towards him.

“What happened?”

“Something attacked us!”

Before she could ask another question, a small creature emerged from the smoke.

It was approximately the size of a dog, but its body was covered in grey spikes. Its mouth stretched unnaturally wide.

A notification appeared.

[MONSTER DETECTED.]

[NAME: GREY FANG]

[LEVEL: 2]

[THREAT RATING: LOW]

[RECOMMENDATION: AVOID DIRECT COMBAT.]

The creature growled.

Elara froze.

The injured man screamed and ran towards the staircase.

The Grey Fang immediately chased him.

“Wait!”

Elara watched helplessly as the creature disappeared around the corner.

A terrible scream followed.

Her legs trembled.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to hide.

But the creature would eventually return.

She needed something to defend herself.

Her eyes landed on a broken metal rod beside the wall.

She picked it up.

It was heavier than she expected.

Another notification appeared.

[EMERGENCY QUEST ACTIVATED.]

[QUEST: SURVIVE THE FIRST HOUR.]

[OBJECTIVE: REMAIN ALIVE FOR 60 MINUTES.]

[REWARD: 100 XP AND ONE RANDOM SKILL.]

[PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DEATH.]

Elara swallowed.

“Sixty minutes?”

The screen changed.

[QUEST TIMER: 00:59:42.]

She was running out of time.

The Grey Fang returned less than two minutes later.

Its mouth was covered in blood.

Elara tightened her grip around the metal rod.

The creature noticed her.

Its red eyes narrowed.

Then it charged.

She screamed and swung the rod.

The impact struck its shoulder, sending the creature sideways.

[CRITICAL HIT!]

[12 DAMAGE.]

The Grey Fang stumbled but immediately recovered.

Elara barely had time to move before its claws struck her arm.

[WARNING!]

[HP: 82/100.]

Pain exploded through her body.

She fell against the wall.

The monster prepared to attack again.

Elara raised the metal rod desperately.

“Stay away from me!”

It lunged.

She rolled sideways.

Its claws struck the floor where her head had been.

Elara scrambled backwards, grabbed the creature’s tail and pulled with everything she had.

The monster lost its balance.

She brought the metal rod down against its head.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

The creature stopped moving.

Silence returned to the corridor.

Elara remained on the floor, breathing heavily.

Then a notification appeared.

[MONSTER DEFEATED.]

[YOU HAVE RECEIVED 35 XP.]

[CURRENT XP: 35/100.]

[WARNING: YOUR HP IS LOW.]

She stared at the dead creature.

She had actually killed it.

Her hands were shaking.

A moment later, another notification appeared.

[HIDDEN CONDITION FULFILLED.]

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED AN ENEMY WHILE YOUR BASE STATS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER.]

[RARE ABILITY DETECTED.]

[UNLOCKING UNIQUE SKILL…]

[SKILL ACQUIRED: SKILL EVOLUTION.]

Elara blinked.

A new screen appeared.

[SKILL: SKILL EVOLUTION]

[RARITY: MYTHICAL]

[DESCRIPTION: TRANSFORM, UPGRADE AND EVOLVE SKILLS BEYOND THEIR ORIGINAL LIMITS.]

[PASSIVE EFFECT: YOU MAY EVOLVE SKILLS THAT HAVE REACHED THEIR REQUIRED CONDITIONS.]

[RESTRICTION: EACH EVOLUTION REQUIRES A SACRIFICE.]

[WARNING: THE COST OF EVOLUTION INCREASES WITH EVERY SUCCESSFUL UPGRADE.]

Elara read the description carefully.

Mythical?

She had no idea what that meant, but it sounded important.

Before she could investigate further, the entire building shook.

A deep roar echoed through the neighbourhood.

The windows rattled.

Then the System announced something that made her blood run cold.

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT.]

[THE FIRST SURVIVAL TRIAL HAS BEGUN.]

[ALL PLAYERS MUST REACH A SAFE ZONE WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.]

[PLAYERS WHO FAIL TO REACH A SAFE ZONE WILL BE ELIMINATED.]

Elara looked towards the staircase.

Outside, creatures were moving through the streets.

She checked her status.

[LEVEL: 1]

[HP: 82/100]

[XP: 35/100]

[SKILL: SKILL EVOLUTION.]

She was still level one.

Still weak.

Still unprepared.

But she had something nobody had told her about.

A Mythical skill.

Elara tightened her grip on the metal rod and stepped towards the staircase.

She had no armour, no weapon worth mentioning and absolutely no idea how to survive in this new world.

But she had thirty minutes.

And she wasn’t going to die today.

[QUEST UPDATED.]

[NEW OBJECTIVE: REACH THE NEAREST SAFE ZONE.]

[REWARD: 200 XP.]

[FAILURE: PERMANENT DEATH.]

Elara took her first step outside.

Then she saw the enormous creature standing at the end of the street.

It was watching her.

A notification appeared.

[WARNING!]

[UNIDENTIFIED BOSS MONSTER DETECTED.]

[LEVEL: 15]

[THREAT RATING: EXTREME.]

[RUN.]

Elara stopped breathing.

The creature smiled.

And the countdown continued.